Activity - Text
Fitness training mainly mobility exercises and stretches
Personal workout focused on legs (ex. Squats, clam shells)
Swimming, SUP, body weight & natural movement
Nothing at the moment, previously martial arts

Yoga Other- Text
I dont really buy into these labels. I practise ‘yoga’. Sensible yoga. It can be dynamic or therapeutic depending on what my body tells me it needs.
pranayama, I use Yoga with Adrienne on Youtube

1. Do you think yoga has taught you about becoming compassionate? If yes, in what way?
Not perse, I’ve always been a compassionate person
Absolutely. Being in a unified presence of people moving, thinking, breathing and feeling together creates empathy and a feeling of support. Teaching yoga also helped me see people’s individual goals and limitations - physical and mental and helped me to understand them and feel that I could help them. Also, I’m very subtle ways, I realised that connecting to my body, allows a feeling of connectedness to others and the outside world proliferate, and that this feeling is so healing that it is worth cultivating into a communal power. Amazingly, this can be done through practicing yoga alone and with others.
Yes - we are all part of a whole and compassion is a way to connect in a meaningful way to each other
To cease striving for perfection or the approval of others
I do not think Yoga teaches you about compassion you are taught that by your parents but yoga enhances it.
Yes, it has taught me to appreciate my body/spriit more. I have learnt the importance of "just showing up" and thanking myself for my efforts. Particularly during covid, yoga has helped me to "cut myself some slack" during more difficult times and put less pressure on myself to be perfect.
No, I wouldn’t say it’s taught me about compassion. But there are compassionate aspects to it.
It helped me get through depression and learning about oneself helps you understand others ans support them
Yes. Has raised awareness of importance of compassion to self
Yes, taught me to think of those less fortunate
Yoga was initially a physical experience the deeper I went in the more compassionate I became
Yes. It’s made me more aware of my emotions and feelings, so I’m kinder to myself and calmer in general
Yes - it has calmed my mind and allowed me to more vompassionate
Yes by seeing all as bodies going through the same growth decay cycle
Yes, I set my intensions in class for others that are not doing so well. Something I haven’t given time to before.
yes, made me realise how beautiful life is and how lucky we are to experiance it
it has helped with my own self compassion, the youtube classes are for varied abilities which makes me compassionate to others using these videos too and whatever our abilities may be
Yes, by grounding and letting go of emotions such as anger.
Yes. It has helped me to be less judgemental of myself and therefore others and to be gentle with my mind and body and respect both ... to realise I am an Tigray part of something much greater than myself
Yes, compasionate towards my self by being more self aware.
Yes. It showed how to be more mindful and grateful.
After 12 years of practicing yoga with many very experienced teachers I was still very self-critical. I found the yamas and niyamas subtley shaming. then i did lots of training in secular mindfulness and compassion and teaching both of these was transformational. So I focus more on these in my yoga practice and teaching. there is so much spiritual bypassing in the yoga community.
Yes, attitude to practice and self, acceptance & kindness.
I don't think so. I don't associate practising yoga with becoming more compassionate
Yes, because yoga challenges one to be more aware in general. When I have a heightened awareness of others' emotions, I have a better idea of how to respond to them.
Self compassion first, then compassion for others through teaching yoga
Yes towards myself and how feelings can come and go
Being kinder to myself and comfortable with my abilities
Yes, it has taught me to be kinder to myself and extend that to others
Slightly but has benefitted in other ways more
Yes, making you feel more connected to myself and others, creating compassion.
Yes because I can slow down my emotional responses.
Yes because yoga helps me to relax and de-stress. This unclutters my mind and body and there is more room for compassion.
Yoga has helped a lot with how I feel about myself in terms of acceptance and resilience
I think yoga has made me less anxious about myself and more able to be compassionate to others.
Yes. By accepting my own limitations. By recognising the natural, inherent differences between people.
Yes. By acknowledging my emotions and seeing how helpful it is, I have been able to understand others emotions better
Probaby the result of teacher example especially at retreats where there is time for discussion.
yes, because it has taught me to take deep breaths and achieve more control of my mind and body.
It has helped me hugely manage my Generalised Anxiety Disorder. I am naturally a compassionate person.
I do feel more companionate each time I finish a practice and it has allowed me to focus on my inner self and become aware of that and bring it into my real life
I think being more mindful of actions and words leads to greater compassion
I am more compassionate to myself, which allows me to empathise and have more energy to be compassionate to others.
It’s taught me to be kinder in general. Mostly to myself but I find myself a lot more tolerant and non-judgemental of people and their choices if I’be done yoga that day than if I haven’t. I have also seen an increase in this generally since increasing the frequency of my practise.
Yoga has helped me to step back and see that we are not all the same and people face different challenges
Yes, has encouraged me to be gentle with myself and pay attention to my body and physical feelings
because you are forced to accept your limitations (physical and mental/emotional) every time you get on the mat
Yes it's taught me to be better at avoiding comparison traps and instead see my strength and ability
Yes. I have practiced yoga since 4 years old. Taught by my Indian mother. For me, yoga is a compassionate action as it develops an ability to be with one self and creates a relationship, a discipline, and art, with one's self. It develops that relationship with my body, mind and spirit and connection with Divine.
Yes. Taking the time to pause, observe whatever is going on for me in that moment and consider it with kindness, forgiveness and encouragement.
Yes as it’s allowed me to get to know my body better and be kinder to myself.
About being present for myself, allowing space to notice what I’m feeling without judgment
I think it has encouraged self compassion definitely, to be accepting and to be diligent in yoga practice to maintain health and immunity, and to maximise potential.
Yes, but I worked in a caring profession so I would say it helped to reinforce my compassion.
Yes, first to self which then allowed me to extend to others
Yes, it has made me aware of physical limits and how the only way to overcome them is through softness, not force.
We're all different, and everyone can and should experience yoga practice differently. Plus, we change daily so our yoga practice should change to reflect what we need to support us, challenge us, energise us, bring balance etc, depending on our current emotions or physical feelings. For women in particular the monthly cycle can affect how and what they want to practice.
I am naturally empathetic but yoga encourages and allows me to practice it more
It has taught me to grateful for the moves my body can make my
Yes approach with kindness and acceptance
More about self compassion and calming the mind
yes - it has helped me to develop awareness and insight into what compassion means to me
I think so - my teacher of the last 11 years has often invited me to soften into a posture, which I have translated to situations outside yoga. I also think yoga teaches us a lot about common humanity and how helpful acceptance is - both of these are important aspects of compassion to me.
connection between mind, body and others
Yes, compassion towards myself, my body and my limitations
Without writing an essay all of these questions can be answered with Self-realisation. Yoga is quite broad but the single most important aspect is just to practice, whatever that means to you.
Compassionate modelling from teacher, complete online yoga sessions at my own time so have developed a habit of carving time out for myself each day and seeing the importance in that in terms of self-compassion, focus in sessions on flows of compassion to self and to others and from others, more connected and grounded due to pranayama, less reactive in my responses to stressful situations and so able to have more of a compassionate approach to myself at these times.
Yes- recognise the link between mind and body and to take time out of the day to being present and tuning in to the body
yes, it brings awareness to the fact that we are connected to others, and so being compassionate is as important as being compassionate to the self
Yes, to myself as i learn to love the body that moves in such elegant ways
Yes, compassion to my body being unable to do certain things
yes due to me being taught how to look after my body which has lead to compassion for myself
yes, it has taught me to love myself more and so act the same towards others
yes. taking the time to myself every morning and night to practice being kind to myself
Accepting myself and what I can do and can't do
In terms of teaching me to stop, breathe and take time for myself
Developing inner wisdom but also learning how to tolerate emotions and not block them out
Yes, non-judgment of my body and its ability, as well as others. Non-competitiveness
Yes - to myself, to strive less, to self study and adpat my behaviour to nourish myself, to be wise.
yes allows me to be more in the moment and grateful
Yes compassion starts with self care and you can then care for others
Not hugely. I have mostly practiced yoga in an effort to combat muscle and spine aches and although there has been focus on thoughtfulness and compassion it hasn’t deeply formed part of my practice.
I think its helped me become more untuned and less angry allowing me to be more with myself and others
Yoga has a big sense of community amongst students and teachers and promotes kindness and listening to ourselves to check in on how we are feeling physically and emotionally. I think Yoga has taught me to check in on a deeper level and how to listen to and respect those feelings as well as consider ways to alleviate sadness/pain.
Yes. I am calmer and listen more. I take my time.
Yes. It invites you to move with awareness and to be gentle with yourself.
yes, understanding that everyone can get stressed about the most minor problems and that it's okay to / how to cope with this
Yes, it has taught me to be patient with myself and that has translated to becoming more patient with others.
Acceptance of the self exactly where one is at the moment. Complete acceptance.
Yes. I've had my spine fused and yoga has taught me to come to terms with my limitations ad physical abilities in a kind way
Yoga has helped me to develop the mindful and acceptance aspects of compassion, by enabling me to develop a habitual way of viewing myself in relation to myself and others
Yes, in that the focus on being in a pose rather than doing a pose enables me to step back and think more compassionately about my body and what it can and can’t do
Yes. I’m more accepting of myself and my body.
yes to my body eg its strength is amazing and I am grateful to it.
Yoga has contributed to my existing practice of compassion focussed therapy and complimented it, for example by including breathing techniques into my daily life
Through acceptance of my body and learning to listen to it more closely.
Yes, to appreciate and accept my body. Use of the breath and how it calms the body and mind
Yes, compassion towards myself in accepting what I am and am not capable of and what I can realistically hope to achieve or not, and working within those limits. And as a teacher, seeing whether that acceptance is there or not in students, and helping them to set realistic goals. But also through meditational techniques, learning to look inward with honesty, to open oneself to what one is feeling.
Being compassionate towards self if I can’t do the position - accepting this is where I am.
Compassionate to myself - my mind and my body. To not judge if my mind or body isn't feeling as good as other times.
How to be approach being compassionate to oneself and others and techniques to deal with them
It’s taught me new calming methods that can be shared.
Yes definitely towards myself due to focus on acceptance of the body, mind body connection and appreciating the beauty and capabilities of my body
Yes, instructor talks about having compassion for self and others, 'breathe love in, breathe love out'
No I think I was already a very compassionate and empathic person.
100% it's made me kinder to myself and to those around me, I think nicer thoughts and generally feel like a better person
Yes - before doing yoga regularly I used to only want to engage in exercise that was intensive and fast. Yoga has helped me to realise that slowing down and accepting myself and my body where I am on that day is so much more helpful for my mental well being
Absolutely. Being more mindful in oneself creates unconditional love for the self, which allows for compassion and mindfulness of others.
Yes. Helping others abs becoming aware of people having their own difficulties
Somewhat... for me, the biggest help has been on trying to develop self-compassion.
Allowing myself to feel tired and struggle with things

2. What aspects of yoga practise do you think are important in developing compassion towards yourself?
Mindfulness - awareness of ourselves and others in the present awards is with authentic and real-time empathy that can be lost when we are carried away by thoughts which can be devoid of true feelings. Also, deeper meditation where we can use our thoughts to emphasise compassion. This is powerful alone, but also with others.
Any practice that encourages self awareness - for me that’s asana, noticing the breath and meditation and mindfulness practices
Gentle, somatic practices, meditation, relaxation
Being reminded its not a competition with others.
To be aware of my body and mind and learn how to take time to breath and relax and this brings your mind into focus to be calm and still.
getting rid of anxious thoughts, forgetting everything and being in the moment
Paying attention, noticing how your body feels, thanking yourself for taking the time out to do the practice, meditation - reflective space, acknowledging your limits
Accepting where you are today, play the edge but not beyond
Knowing when to take it slow, relax, instead of forcing yourself
Breath, setting intention, meditation, flow, meditation (again) and more meditation
Listening to my body, it’s needs, taking rest when I need to or modifying poses when I need to
accepting ourselves and being patient with ourselves
Breathing and being aware of my feelings and emotions
Yoga has definitely made me kinder towards my body.
The mindfulness. Taking a moment to accept and release how you’re feeling without judgment
All aspects really - becoming more caring to the body in physical practice and listening to mind and emotions in breathing and meditation
Loving kindness. No competirion with others
accepting my body in whatever state it is in for that moment, some days i can touch my toes and others not but it doesnt matter. And letting thoughts come and go without judgment when reminded in the practice.
Mantras, feeling connected mentally and physically to myself
Onward focus. Gratitude. Ahimsa. All the yamas and Niyamas. Self reflection. Finding inner calm.
Observing my thinking, being more conscious of my thoughts and knowing my self to know how to deal with me in a positive way
Quieting the mind and taking time to think about self love and to be patient with one's self.
MIndfulness of the body. Work with kindness before going on to compassion as it's more straightforward. Working to shift the nervous system from Fight flght freeze to social engagement creates the physiological underpinning of compassion. Language that invites acceptance and inner warmth which allows us to see ourselves more as we are not how we think we should be. . It helps to create wisdom. explaining to people how the nervous system works to normalise there experiences. Explaining about the 2 aspects of compassion, the being with and the relieving of suffering. self compassion practices to create inner warmth, practices around the self critic.
I feel the attitude and how one practices is more important than what one practices.
The positive outlook and optimism it gives me, allows me to be more compassionate with myself, as I am optimistic I can persevere in life
Being able to accept the limits of the strength and flexibiliy helps with that. But this is incidental for me.
All aspects, but particularly focusing on posture and motivations.
Making modifications when I need to, taking rests when I need to, acknowledging my strength
Acceptance of physical limitations, linking mind, body and spirit and understanding how each affects the other. Taking time for oneself to practice and study.
mindfulness, acceptance of the body, breathing techniques, noting emotions during yoga
Deep breathing, looking inwards, quietening the mind
The connection between the head and the heart
The closing shavasna where I can recap on what the session has done to me. Also breathing exercises where I can go inward more.
Ahimsa, feeling yoga from the inside out, sense of community, acceptance of where you are.
Restorative yoga, yoga Nidra, meditation and studying and discussing with others the five limbs of yoga.
Recognising that everyone has limitations and that those limitations are natural and to be accepted in everyone, including me.
Acknowledging and letting go of emotions, thoughts and feelings. Acceptance of self and body. Being connected to my body and breathing.
Being "perfect as you are" to quote a teacher. This means you accpet your body as it is and work on improvemnets from there.
mindfulness and understanding that it is a process.
Feeling stronger emotionally and physically.
Practicing mindfulness and meditation to learn and reflect on yourself
Physical movement, flexibility and focus on breath
Practicing gratitude, taking time to care for myself and do what I enjoy.
Breathing, setting goals at the start of my practise, winding down from the day, allowing a close to my working day and accepting what has happened that day and being grateful for anything that has happened in a day. Allowing for stillness at the end of the session too helps me accept and be proud of what I have done and gives me an opportunity for stillness in the day, where I would not normally make this time for myself.
Not pushing yourself too hard and actively taking time for yoireeld
By realising we are not all the same and we are on different journeys, that I must not compare myself to others and that I may not be able to reach the same level as someone else but that doesn't mean I can't push myself and work to my maximum.
Mindfulness, slowing down, listening to your feelings
accepting the changes from day-to-day / week-to-week / month-to-month / - year-to-year
Interaction/teaching/modifications, better connection of mind body and breath, anchoring focus
Breathing, asanas, and meditation all help develop compassion, by feeling a connection with Divine through the relationship with the body-mind-emotions
Meditation, pausing and using your breath as grounding.
Taking that time for yourself, and doing it for yourself.
Teacher talking about how good it is to do yoga, self care, and achieve potential.also key is the impact of the practice, that it makes me feel good , nice and relaxed.
I think yoga has played an important role in developing compassion towards myself. Also the reading and courses that I have taken through yoga have led to things such as reading Bhuddist teaching and some of the Dalai lama's teachings.
Breathing, repetition of movements, regular practice to reinforce compassion
Patience and individual understanding. Care for others physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally
Acceptance, the concept that everything is in a constant state of flux or change.
Being aware of your strengths and weakness with confidence.
Calming the mind and relaxing your body to release negativity
Accepting limitations in poses going as far as feels ok. Meditation calms the mind leaving me feeling refreshed
yes - all aspects, mindfulness of when I i may be critical of myself
Accepting that some days poses are just harder than others; stillness and peace being obtainable if I stop fighting a thought, feeling, or sensation; allowing me space to move toward and hold emotion with gentle awareness; giving me ways to express and move through emotions
slowing down, noticing limits and acceptance
Acceptance that you dont need to change anything
Be patient, everyone is built differently and yoga is not a competition.
Inversions, pranayama, savasana, any position that encourages slowing down of the body and mind, hands on heart practices, developing compassionate self-talk.
Listening and reacting to how the body feels and releasing any tension and slowing down the mind
spiritual practice, awareness of the body, breathing
Using yoga as a release for self reflection and encouraging acceptance
meditation, resting yourself and calming the mind
allowing yourself the time to practice. not being hard on myself if i cant do something straight away
Focusing on positive self-thoughts and self-image
Acceptance: Accepting the body as it is and being gentle, easing in to movements and not pushing the body too far, accepting what you can do.
Meditation, developing interoception, relaxing the body.
Softness, being gentle, acceptance, appreciation
Reflection and self study. Looking after my body. Balance, grouding - bringing themes off the Mat.
Time for you , self care, svasana , breath and spiritual practice
Possibly For me guided meditation and thoughts about your own ability and more slow/holding poses rather than fast paced moving between poses
I don't think yoga helps with compassion
Acceptance of one's self. Praise for what can be achieved in the asana practice and the steps to improve. Gratitude towards my body for what it can do and what it does everyday which can help counteract negative body image thoughts. Checking in during practice to see what my feelings are and putting aside any mind-chatter during meditative sessions and allowing myself to let go of feelings and distraction. Any small improvement in postures, alignment, strength or flexibility are noticed as you're encouraged to check in how you're body feels throughout which brings positive feelings towards myself. Some teachers talk about self-forgiveness which can help emotionally.
Breathing and calming my mind. It allows me to think more and reason more.
Mindfulness of body, emotions and thoughts. Emphasis on listening to your body rather than obtaining a perfect pose.
breathing, being able to reflect on your thoughts and give yourself a break or think about how they are very normal
Focus on the mind, but also the physical benefits of the body helps to ease stress, which allows a more compassionate state off the mat.
Self reflection, learning to love yourself and your body, sense of achievement, meditation
Non judgemental current awareness and relaxation
Acceptance of body and acceptance of thoughts. acceptance of abilities
Pranayama practice provide a breath to match the energy you need in the moment and the mindful practise allows developing awareness of what that need might be. Also, mindful/mediation elements develop skill in tolerating whatever 'comes up' in the moment - whether that is comfortable or not.
Slowing down and observing, the need to carve out time for myself to practice, engagement with the present moment, focus on it being an ongoing practice not achieving a goal
The whole process of ‘coming home’ back into the mind and body. Re-focusing on that which is important and not the usual external crap that pulls for our attention in every day life
Not pushing yourself, building up strength and flexibility slowly over time :) forcing yourself to slow down and take each practice as it comes. I love that about yoga :)
Noticing of self-critical and judgmental thoughts about not being able to enter into poses correctly (practicing to acknowledge these thoughts and letting them go), practicing encountering challenges in a pose and responding to myself with encouragement rather than self-criticism
Acceptance, continuing to participate in something that I know is good for me.
Breathing, quieting the mind, making time for myself
The physical practice of postures in a non-harmful way (ahimsa); also through mindfulness throughout the practice, which can then be taken out into the rest of daily life; and through the techniques of calming the mind, e.g breathing, mantra, that allow honest introspection.
modifications - all bodies are different. Breathing helps to free the mind of negative thoughts and emotions and be more compassionate towards yourself.
Breath, concentration, contemplation, meditation and physical practise
Setting an intention, acceptance of where we are that day, focus on self care
Not comparing and competing with others in class. Be gentle but challenging towards my body, never forcing
All aspects I think involve a degree of self compassion and awareness otherwise it is not yoga
Focus on breath and deep breathing allows time for my mind to quiet and to find space to relax, I find I am reminding to do this throughout the day-outside of practice.
I guess taking your time and focusing on the basics.
The mind body awareness, stilling the mind and acceptance.
Acceptance, surrender, letting go and being still
The culture surrounding yoga is one of inclusivity (seemingly though I recognise I speak from a position of privilege). Mindfulness and being present in whatever way you can be, showing down
Affirmations, mindfulness and meditation before, during and after with a focus on tour breath.
Reminding myself to let go of the things that no longer serve me.
challenging poses and allowing myself to not be perfect

3. What aspects of yoga practise do you think are important in developing compassion towards others?
Due to yoga practise, I became more flexible in my own muscles and Body but also learned how to be more flexible in behaviour/ thoughts towards others
See above. I believe it works for both aspects. Also, as a teacher I am often overcome with compassion for people having faith in my class and teachings, and feel so willing to help them as they help me. As I see people in their yogic journey through the class I am there to be aware of their struggles, and really appreciate my role in assisting them.
Yoga philosophy, m in dfulness and meditation
Loving kindness meditation, themes and visualisations around giving and receiving, talking about yoga in action, of serving others
To listen to take time to listen and see when appropriate to help.
Thanking others for sharing their practice with you (Namaste, Om at the end of the class makes me feel very connected to others in the class)
Meditation. Understanding and accepting one's own weaknesses (physical and mental) and emotions.
listening to others and being non-judgemental
Being kind to yourself so you can be kind to others
The spiritual element, but the breathing exercises in practice allow you to reflect. The teachings allow you to release what you cannot control, which often is the feelings of others
All aspects again - learning to be humbler and more aware
being reminded that taking time on the mat helps me look after myself so that i have energy for others, understanding that we are all complex and human.
Realising we are all one and all interlinked. Until we have walked in another’s shoes we cannot judge anyone.
Learning to be compasionate towards you, by being mindful, and learning to observe thought without judjing
Being kind to myself helps me to be more aware about myself and my surroundings, in others.
As with 2. I use compassion practices like metta practice ...equanimity practices.
When practicing self love and acceptance, it is like you will extend this teaching onto compassion towards others
Sorry.... yoga practice and developing compassion are not associated for me....
The focus on awareness and meditation. Meditation allows one to more deeply realise that we are all connected. When connectedness is realised, compassion follows.
Non competitive interaction, understanding others' physical, emotional and mental suffering and limitations.
The connection between the body and the world
Child's Pose, being connected to yourself and the universe.
When my teacher reminds us that the poses can be adapted and that we all have different bodies and different levels of flexibility. As we are on Zoom, we can’t see others but that reminds me that there are other people in the “room”. Yoga is about other people not just yourself.
Starting with self-compassion and acceptance, sense of belonging, community and connection.
By becoming more compassionate towards myself, I feel I am increasingly compassionate towards others. Recognising the causes of suffering in oneself makes it easier to empathise with the suffering of others.
Being aware of surroundings and sensations. Acknowledging and letting go of emotions, thoughts and feelings.
As you learn to accept yourself and show self-kindness you learn to accept others and be kind.
meditation because it teaches you to think calmly.
body acceptance. A positive frame of mind.
I think mindfulness and guided meditation allows you to take and relate your experiences to others and how they feel
Meditation, gratitude, paying attention to breath bringing you to the present and clearing your mind.
Being more compassionate with myself has allowed me to be more compassionate towards others. The main aspects allowing for this development would be breathing exercised and not holding on to stresses. Just letting things go
Setting intentions, heart openers guided talk
Readings and instructions that we have in class help, we are taught to learn compassion within ourselves first and naturally that is then transferred to be compassionate to others
Patience, staying present, being kind, empathy
practising alongside others and not allowing yourself to get distracted by what they are or are not doing
I think the same... Doing the work within increases the connection to others
The spiritual awareness of connectedness with others has grown from be able to assimilate a felt sense of connectedness with others through spiritual teachings and being able to feel that connectedness through the body...the connectedness with all that is. Practicing non-harm and vegetarian eating etc also helps to feel the impact of our actions on others, particularly animals
If you allow space for your own emotions and compassing, you can pass the forward to others.
Teaching about moderation, feeling better about self, focussing on self and internal rather than reacting to the external. Releasing tension through postures and breathing.
Respect for others, non-judgemental attitude, calmness and acceptance of people for who they are.
learning to let go of emotions and expectations so you can respond to people differently
Internal focus and letting go of certain emotions.
Recognising that we all change every day, and we have different bodies that can do different things. Also loving kindness meditation practice.
Creating community. Having common desires.
Removing negative energy and relaxing your thoughts, becoming mindful
The act of slowing down and feeling good
breathwork and acceptance of differences. Please note since the pandemic started I have only done yoga with others online and mostly practice on my own. Doing your research has helped me see that some aspects of my yoga practice have been more limited than I realised by this.
Group practice and acceptance that we are all different and our bodies are unique
Non violence, non judgemental, meditation
More meditative aspects that include intentions to spend time thinking about flow of compassion to others, general sense of feeling more grounded and calm helps to indirectly affect relationships with others positively.
spiritual practice, group yoga and poses
being able to strengthen your own mind so you can focus of helping others
Relaxing and calming thoughts, releasing tension
Mindfulness: creating the capacity within yourself to stop and connect with the heat and now creates the space for you to extend compassion to others
Loving kindness meditation, visualisation, thanking others, coming together as a group, Yamas, niyamas especially.
Self care , strength work, mindfulness , union of us all as one in the universal
Breathing and calming down, feeling love
Practicing kindness towards ourselves during practice helps to develop compassion for others. I find that Yoga helps my mental health as well as physical health so have recommended it to friends when they have opened up about mental health struggles. I also think the breathing practices are useful tools to use outside of Yoga for situations with people in life/work to help take a pause before reacting.
By focusing on yourself, resting and recharging it enables you to have capacity to offer compassion to others
Allowing a deep connection to your breath to deal with people/situations with more compassion
Patience with others and allowing time for change or no change.
Closing my eyes and not minding what others are doing and if they're better or worse than me. Knowing we're all in it together
The element of understanding energies and the philosophy that we are all connected - that we can all be connected with breath.
In my view, developing compassion for oneself facilitates compassion for others; so compassion for others is a byproduct of the compassion yoga has helped me develop for myself
As above. The process of giving space to notice self allows us space to acknowledge others’ common humanity within that.
understanding everyone has stresses and hardships
Dedicating practices to someone else who is suffering, allowing time for this dedication at the start of practice to draw attention to the suffering of others
Modelling by my teacher & her own compassion to me & others in the class.
Non-competitiveness, practicing amongst one another - feeling connected
As a teacher, witnessing the efforts of students, and attempting to help each individual to achieve what is best for them; in my own practice, through gaining better understanding of myself, and relating that to others.
Can’t think of any way it helps me be more compassionate towards others, only myself
Teacher reminding us that everyone is different - physically and mentally - on and off the mat
Awareness of self makes me more aware of hire others Bath react
Chanting in the group, storytelling/ethical principles
We are all different and we’re all on a different journey together
The Buddhist principles focus on compassion to others and yoga teachers make reference to these. As a clinical psychologist I would like to think I am very compassionate towards others already. Yoga has helped with my own self compassion a lot more
I find yoga rejuvenating, it gives me more resources to be able to be compassionate of others.
Yoga with a partner where u have to rely on each other
As above - but I think it helps to already be a compassionate person. I know some pretty non compassionate yoga teachers!!
Accepting others, being compassionate towards yourself first so that you are able to show that to others
Enabling self compassion in myself supports my ability to continue to show compassion towards others
I think when one has self-compassion, compassion to others flows.